I'm hoping that someone on here is ultra familiar with GM's oil life system. insight from a GM tech would be great. I am turbocharging my cobalt in the spring and i am planning to run synthetic oil. my question is while turbo'd is it wise to continue to follow the oil life monitor's assessment of when to change the oil? sometimes i go 8000 miles before an oil change and even with synthetics that seems like a stretch. according to my understanding, the system basically monitors rpms and engine temp and estimates when a change is needed. there doesn't seem to be any way to compensate for the extra stresses of the turbosystem. any educated ideas? i would love for someone to school/correct me on this.

 

i was wondering this too, im in my 20% range right now since my turbo install, im gonna change the oil next week probably and up to date the car is still running smooth. i'll look at the oil when it comes out to see whats going on. I mean the ss/sc is boosted and the oil monitor works good for them so im sure it can still be followed.

 

MAX i would change mine every like 5k km's..i change it every 3k km's..not MILES but KM'S ..oil is the most important thing to change if you want your engine ot last long turbo/ supercharger or not

 

if your spending that much money on mods....why cheap out on giving her nice fresh oil?

i think its in your best interest to change the oil between 3-5k and start ignoring that idiot device they put in cars for people who dont have a clue.

 

You are correct, the oil system uses the engine rpm and temp to calculate the oil change. If you are using synthetic there isn't any reason to change the oil before 5000 miles. Even if you are running turbo on the car your really don't need to change the oil more unless you are really running the car hard. I wouldn't go over 3000 miles with conventional oil, but with synthetic you should be fine.

 

Because the oil (even though synthetic) is going to break down faster just because now it's going through more parts, I wouldn't have you go 3000 miles just for peace of mind.

 

The only idiot is the one that relies on only one factor to change their oil, whether it be "tradition" or the OLM. Synthetic will not break down at 8k miles, but with the turbo you may burn some off, or it could get dirty quicker. Just check it every other tank, and change it when it's dirty, or before the OLM reads zero, as that estimates how the oil breaks down over time better than anyone's guess can.

 

I've found the oil meter to come in handy... since I don't really count miles between changes.

Call me crazy if you want to... but it is on the car for a reason.

Cool thing about Onstar here... it keeps track of oil life percentage... mileage... and etc.

I change the oil between 33% and 25% on the meter. Which so far as worked out to be approx. every 5 months. With the amount I drive this car it also ends up being between 4500 and 5000 miles.

I check the oil every now-and-then... probably not as often as I should... but she's never burned a drop.

Seems pretty safe to me.

 

I agree.
but I also think that staying "on the safe side" when your heavily modded....
considering the cost of repairs vs cost of oil change....
will ALWAYS be smarter than relying on estimations of that computer.

2 years down the track id rather be laughed at for wasting $200 on more frequent oilchanges....than laughed at for running a heavily modded engine to 8k on the oil and regretting it.

 

The oil monitor doesn't work, it goes off every 12,000km. The GM manual even states that if your monitor does not work or if you are in severe duty use a 5,000km oil change interval. 5W30 after only a month is about a 5W20 due to the resin packages breaking down. Synthetic does not break down, but it does get dirty, dirty means you carbon up the oil control rings. Once you carbon up the rings you burn oil and have to have the plugs pulled and cleens dumped into the cylinders. Change your oil out every 3,000 Miles, 4,000 at most with synthetic and you should be fine. With the turbo you want to keep the turbo clean and the seals in good condition, crappy dirty oil isn't going to help the seals.

You honestly would not believe how many cars come into my shop with carbonized oil control rings because of poor oil change maintenance. Almost every Civic, Accord, and Olds 3.5 that come into my shop burns oil at 100,000KM because they followed the "dealer" maintenance schedule. Sadly the schedule is to sell cars, not to maintain your car.

 

i appreciate your comments, guys. the thing that really makes me think about this is that mobil 1 offers their "Extended Performance" oil that is "supersyn" (detergent) heavy they say they guarantee it for 15,000 miles. while i dont exactly expect the OLS to let me get to 15,000 miles it just made me wonder about the possibility of still following the OLS with this oil. i am currently corresponding with mobil 1 tech support on this question and am addressing the turbo side of this with them as well. i can post their response when i recieve it. thanks again fellas.

 

sorry... "extended mileage" oil sounds like a bad idea to me... it won't break down... but it sure as **** will get dirty..